Color Our World - Teens

Summer Reading Program 2025 picks for Teens! Some titles will be in the Juvenile Collection and others in the Young Adult Collection. The Young Adult Collection is made up of books for a wide age range (12-18 years old) and includes a variety of different topics and interests. Not all titles will be appropriate for all readers.

Showing 1 - 20 of 47  There are a total of 60 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for "When it all syncs up"
Star rating for When it all syncs up
Author:
Series:
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
"A Black teen dancer with dreams of landing a spot in a prestigious ballet company must learn to dance on her own terms in this explosive debut about the healing power of art and friendship, perfect for fans of Heartbreaker and Tiny Pretty Things. Ballet is Aisha's life. So when she's denied yet another lead at her elite academy because she doesn't "look" the part, she knows something has to change-the constant discrimination is harming her mental...
Book cover for "Wolfwood"
Star rating for Wolfwood
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
Indigo finds a series of paintings made by her mother that could be the solution to their financial insecurities; however, her mother refuses to revive the series, so Indigo secretly takes up the brush herself and falls into the paintings' dangerous world which blurs fantasy and reality.
Book cover for "Zia erases the world"
Star rating for Zia erases the world
Author:
Description:
"Zia remembers the exact night the Shadoom arrived. One moment she was laughing with her best friends, and the next a dark room of shadows had crept into her chest. Zia has always loved words, but she can't find a real one for the fear growing inside her. How can you defeat something if you don't know its name?"--
Book cover for "The prince and the coyote"
Star rating for The prince and the coyote
Description:
"Fifteen-year old crown prince Acolmiztli wants nothing more than to see his city-state of Tetzcoco thrive. A singer, poet, and burgeoning philosophical mind, he has big plans about infrastructure projects and cultural initiatives that will bring honor to his family and help his people flourish. But the two sides of his family, the kingdoms of Mexico and Acolhuacan, have been at war his entire life - after his father risked the wrath of the Tepanec...
Book cover for "Dream, Annie, dream"
Star rating for Dream, Annie, dream
Average Rating:
5 stars
Description:
"In this empowering deconstruction of the so-called American Dream, a twelve-year-old Japanese American girl grapples with, and ultimately rises above, the racism and trials of middle school she experiences while chasing her dreams. As the daughter of immigrants who came to America for a better life, Annie Inoue was raised to dream big. And at the start of seventh grade, she's channeling that irrepressible hope into becoming the lead in her school...

6. Spin

Book cover for "Spin"
Star rating for Spin
Description:
Sixteen-year-old Archne turns to weaving for solace, but when word spreads of her skill she is confronted by the goddess Athena and the two enter a weaving contest that results in transformation and redemption.
Book cover for "The plain Janes"
Star rating for The plain Janes
Series:
Description:
When Jane moves to the suburbs and thinks her life is over, she and three new friends form a club to make public art but are soon distracted by romance.
Book cover for "Me, Frida, and the secret of the peacock ring"
Star rating for Me, Frida, and the secret of the peacock ring
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
Paloma Marquez is traveling to Mexico City, birthplace of her deceased father, for the very first time. She's hoping that spending time in Mexico will help her unlock memories of the too-brief time they spent together. While in Mexico, Paloma meets Lizzie and Gael, who present her with an irresistible challenge: the siblings want her to help them find a valuable ring that once belonged to beloved Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Book cover for "Keep dancing, Lizzie Chu"
Star rating for Keep dancing, Lizzie Chu
Author:
Description:
"Twelve-year-old Lizzie Chu has lived with her Wai Gong (grandfather) in Glasgow since her parents died when she was a baby. But Wai Gong has been acting different lately. He spends a lot of time talking to his Guan Yin statue--the Chinese goddess of compassion, kindness, and mercy--at his altar and seems to be becoming more forgetful. Even the shared passion he and Lizzie have for their favorite show, Strictly Come Dancing, seems to be tailing off....
Book cover for "How to draw a secret"
Star rating for How to draw a secret
Author:
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Description:
An autobiographical story of a young Taiwanese American artist struggling to find her voice to save what matters most.
Book cover for "Of jade and dragons"
Star rating for Of jade and dragons
Author:
Series:
Description:
After her father's murder, eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying travels to the capital, where she discusses herself as her brother and infiltrates the Engineers Guild as she tries to solve her father's murder with help from a prince with plans of his own.
Book cover for "When the vibe is right"
Star rating for When the vibe is right
Author:
Description:
"She's destined to be a great Trinidadian Carnival costume designer like her renowned uncle, Russel Messina, and will one day inherit leadership of the family's masquerade band, Grandeur. Her classmate, the popular social media influencer, Brandon Richards, is the bane of her existence. Everything about him irks her, from his annoying nickname for Tess ("Boop") to his association with David, her awful ex. But when the future of Grandeur nears the...
Book cover for "Borderless"
Star rating for Borderless
Description:
Caught in the cross hairs of gang violence, seventeen-year-old fashion designer, Maya, and her mother set off on a perilous journey from Guatemala City to the US-Mexico border.

14. Unstuck

Book cover for "Unstuck"
Star rating for Unstuck
Author:
Description:
Twelve-year-old Lyla sets out to write the perfect fantasy novel in her creative writing class, but discovers some unexpected twists and turns, both on and off the page. Includes twenty-five ways to overcome writer's block.
Book cover for "Art club"
Star rating for Art club
Description:
"After the art programs are cut at his school, Dale Donovan recruits talented artists to create an after-school art club"--
Book cover for "Tilly in technicolor"
Star rating for Tilly in technicolor
Average Rating:
4.3 stars
Description:
When eighteen-year-old Tilly goes to London to intern for her sister's company, she begins to unmask her ADHD and connects with Oliver, another neurodivergent intern.
Book cover for "Wings in the wild"
Star rating for Wings in the wild
Description:
When a hurricane exposes Soleida's family's secret sculpture garden, the Cuban government arrests her artist parents, forcing her to escape alone to Central America where she meets Dariel, a Cuban American boy, and together they work to protect the environment and bring attention to the imprisoned artists in Cuba.
Book cover for "Maya plays the part"
Star rating for Maya plays the part
Author:
Description:
"A heartwarming middle-grade debut with autism representation and a musical flair. Maya lives and breathes musicals. When her chance to finally be a part of the summer musical program at the community theater comes up, Maya is convinced she will get the lead. After all, who knows The Drowsy Chaperone better than she does? However, things don't turn out exactly the way Maya's planned, and the summer turns out to be jam-packed with problems: dealing...
Book cover for "Miss Quinces"
Star rating for Miss Quinces
Average Rating:
3 stars
Description:
"Sue just wants to spend the summer reading and making comics at sleepaway camp with her friends, but instead she gets stuck going to Honduras to visit relatives with her parents and two sisters. They live way out in the country, which means no texting, no cable, and no Internet! The trip takes a turn for the worse when Sue's mother announces that they'll be having a surprise quinceà¨era for Sue, which is the last thing she wants. She can't imagine...

20. Spin

Book cover for "Spin"
Star rating for Spin
Average Rating:
4 stars
Description:
When DJ ParSec (Paris Secord), rising star of the local music scene, is found dead over her turntables, the two girls who found her, Kya (her pre-fame best friend) and Fuse (her current chief groupie) are torn between grief for Paris and hatred for each other--but when the lack of obvious suspects stalls the investigation, and the police seem to lose interest, despite pressure from social media and ParSec's loyal fans, the two girls unite, determined...